Paterno film 'The Joe We Know' set for TV debut

'The Joe We Know,' a documentary film about former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, will make its television debut Thursday night on five PBS stations across Pennsylvania.

Locally, WLVT PBS39 will broadcast the film at 9 p.m.

'The Joe We Know,' conceived and produced by former Penn State football players, premiered in State College in February. More than 70 former players were interviewed for the project, which originally was intended as an 85th birthday present for Paterno. The coach died of lung cancer several days after the film's production was completed in January.

Among the players interviewed are Franco Harris, Shane Conlan, Mike Guman and Mike Cerimele. Tom Donchez, a Bethlehem resident who played for Penn State in the 1970s, served as one of the film's executive producers.

Donchez said that the production team has no plans to sell DVD copies of the film. Producer Eric Porterfield said the film would be screened for alumni associations. One such screening is scheduled for May 3 in Baltimore.